Police warn of car repair scam

Related Media

South Lake Tahoe police are warning people of the danger of allowing strangers into their homes and getting repair work done by unlicensed and uninsured repairmen after a 89-year-old man was the victim of a possible scam over the weekend.

About 4 p.m. Saturday the man was approached by two men in the South Lake Tahoe Safeway who offered to repair a dent in the man's car for $80 and additional work for another $20, according to a statement from police.

"The senior citizen agreed to it and the men followed the senior citizen to his residence," according to the statement. "The men came into the senior citizen's house and worked on his car in the garage. The repair was of very poor quality and may have just been a ruse to get inside senior citizen's home or just a scam to get some money from him."

The men were described as Hispanics in their 30s. They were driving a full-size white SUV with a rear-lift, gate-type hatch.

Police ask anyone who comes across a similar situation to contact Sgt. Shannon Laney at 530-542-6100.